Expert teams delivering UK firsts for science and technology

Willmott Dixon is one of the UK's most experienced builders of science and technology facilities, the kind of technically demanding, highly serviced buildings that test what construction can do. We created the first dedicated science park in Wales, a new home for the Met Office supercomputer, Europe's premier satellite testing facility, and the Pears Building, the renowned research and treatment centre for the Royal Free in London.

These are buildings where precision is everything: vibration tolerances, controlled environments, complex gas and ventilation systems, ultra-high-security access and resilient connectivity. Our detailed know-how in creating bespoke research and development facilities, for universities, life sciences companies and the wider science and technology community, means your investment is well spent and your building performs.

Pushing offsite boundaries at the University of Warwick

Science buildings are among the most complex we deliver, and we use modern methods of construction to take cost, time and quality risk out of them. Our award-winning Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building at the University of Warwick is a standout example: a five-storey laboratory with a 400-seat lecture theatre and a range of social and collaboration spaces, completed to an industry-leading standard with 50% of the development made up of pre-manufactured value.

That expertise runs right across the university research estate, including our retrofit and extension of Queen Mary University of London's informatics building, creating cutting-edge, sustainable teaching and research space for the next generation of AI and data science.

Greenheys: a flagship for life sciences

The £60m Greenheys development for Bruntwood SciTech is a hub for life sciences and innovation spanning 131,000 sq ft across six floors, set to redefine the landscape of specialised laboratory space for diagnostics, genomics, biotech and precision medicine businesses.

Greenheys will be the future headquarters of UK Biobank, the world's most comprehensive source of health data for research. Occupying three floors, its new laboratory will house a latest-generation robotic freezer capable of storing and retrieving up to 20 million biological samples four times faster than current standards. Across the building, CL2 labs and flexible office floors - from 2,500 sq ft to full 22,000 sq ft plates - are backed by advanced vibration resistance, piped gas distribution, enhanced cooling and ventilation, high-security access and 100GB superfast connectivity.

Sustainability is engineered in throughout. We're supporting our customer's target of net zero carbon in construction and operation across the building's shared spaces, with reduced embodied carbon and 100% electric operation.

Two projects, world class delivery - why they are special

Greenheys, Manchester Science Park A £60m, 131,000 sq ft life sciences and innovation hub for Bruntwood SciTech, completing summer 2026. Future home of UK Biobank, with CL2 laboratories, latest-generation sample storage robotics, and a net zero carbon target in construction and operation across its shared spaces.

Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building, University of Warwick An award-winning, world-class research environment combining a five-storey laboratory, a 400-seat lecture theatre and collaboration spaces — delivered with 50% pre-manufactured value, demonstrating how offsite construction can raise quality while reducing risk on highly technical buildings.